11.   Particularly worrisome is that the bacteria are becoming resistant to fluoroquinolones, a powerful and much-needed class of drugs.

12.   The indiscriminate use of antibiotics and their easy availability on the Hong Kong black market have raised fears that bacteria are becoming dangerously resistant.

13.   A study last year by Tufts University showed antibacterial agents and antibiotics might even cause bacteria to become resistant.

14.   Bacteria become more deadly as they mutate to survive increasingly potent drugs.

15.   Doctors suspect the strep bacteria also are becoming resistant to other popular drugs in the same antibiotic family, the macrolides.

16.   Federal health officials have cautioned against overprescribing antibiotics, both because of side effects and because of the risk that bacteria will become resistant to the drugs.

17.   One reason the bacteria might have become resistant to some drugs is the overuse of antibiotics, said North Dakota state epidemiologist Larry Shireley.

18.   The infections are normally treated with antibiotics, but experts worry that the bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to the drugs.

19.   The recommendation comes as health officials worry that Cipro is being overprescribed in the general population, possibly causing common bacteria to become resistant to the drug.

20.   Treating the infected coral also poses problems, as the bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, Porter said in a telephone interview.